When showrunner Maggie Friedman read the New York Times bestselling novel by Kristin Hannah called Firefly Lane, she knew she was onto something special. She was both nervous and excited at the prospect of adapting it into a mini-series for television. It is the story of two best friends Tully Hart (Katherine Heigl) and Kate Malarkey (Sarah Chalke) spanning across three decades. The love story between the two friends and their enduring friendship begins in 1974 and ends in 2003 when journalist Johnny Ryan (Ben Lawson) leaves to cover the Iraq war. We spoke with TV writer Maggie Friedman about bringing this story to the screen.
We asked her what initially drew her to the novel. “I read the book and thought about my best friend who I’ve known since we were kids,” recalled Friedman. “The culture across the decades changed so much and I loved seeing Tully and Kate change with the times.” It wasn’t just the major cultural shifts that attracted the showrunner, but also watching Kate and Tully grow from schoolgirls into women.
The pilot of the series was written before the main TV writers’ room was hired. Naturally, the writers were required to read the novel beforehand. Maggie Friedman wanted writers from a diverse range of life experiences and ages to complement each other in the room. She hired writers that understood the tone of the show and encourage “passionate debate” about the characters
Maggie Friedman
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Although epic stories of female friendships have been told many time before, the TV writer saw a gap in our current television landscape that needed to be filled with Firefly Lane. “This story is so universal. The unique aspect of Kate and Tully’s story is that each has what the other one wants as they fall apart and come together.”
Unlikely friendships are not as unlikely as they might seem despite the characters being so vastly dissimilar. “Tully is beautiful and charismatic. Everyone she meets wants to be around her. Kate is the invisible, award geek.” Kate has something that Tully wants – a loving and stable home life. “The two are a perfect fit. Firefly Lane is a story of soul mates who happen to be platonic friends. They are each other’s person.”
One of the biggest tests of their friendship is both of them falling for the same guy, Johnny Ryan (Ben Lawson). Paradoxically, Kate sleeps with him while he’s married to Tully. “They ultimately pass the friendship test because nothing will ever come between them.”
Like many tumultuous relationships, Kate and Tully have their fair share of arguments and even estrangements. But their friendship always prevails. They need each other in a co-dependent way. “Sometimes the things that attract you to a person are the things that drive you the most crazy,” Friedman explained. “Tully is big and bold and gives the meek Kate permission to be the same.”
At times, Tully is like a bulldozer. “She’s impulsive, brash and doesn’t always think how her behavior affects other people.” She suffers from some narcissism, doesn’t take responsibility for her actions, and has a tough time apologizing. While Kate imbibes some of these traits, Tully needs her to be a caretaker and her rock. Tully needs Kate more than vice versa in some respects.
The power dynamics between the aren’t always set. Ostensibly, it seems that Tully is the dominant leader, but this isn’t always the case. Tully is needy and has difficulty being alone. Kate, on the other hand, is comfortable with solitude and more sure of herself. Maggie Friedman relished developing these antithetical characters because she saw aspects of herself in each of them. “I like to be alone like Kate, but am also ambitious like Tully.”
Relating To Kate and Tully
Despite the abundance of negative traits in both Kate and Tully, Maggie Friedman was mindful of providing enough backstory to each character so the audience knew how to understand them and their decisions.
“Tully suffered a sexual assault when she was very young and she had a drug-addicted mother who periodically abandoned her. She develops a hard outer shell to cope. As a result Tully can be mean and push people away who are trying to love her.” Tully’s backstory as an awkward teenager is meant to invite empathy rather than pity. “Kate’s awkwardness and clumsiness make her endearing. She’s very sincere and always does her best, regardless of the outcome. She messes up a lot.”
Kate can see Tully’s vulnerability beneath her crude exterior in a way most people didn’t. “Kate feels for Tully because she’s kind of like a broken person, because you know the events that formed her.”
Tully Hart (Katherine Heigl) & Kate Malarkey (Sarah Chalke). Photo: courtesy of Netflix
Despite their personal setbacks and undesirable traits, both have enjoyed the rollercoaster of success as much as much as heartbreak. One of the greatest aspects of their relationship is their ability to raise each other’s spirits after a setback. “They’re often laughing, dancing, and having fun.”
Adapting The Novel
One of the hallmarks of the adaptation process of Firefly Lane is that Friedman took some detours from the novel. “I wanted to honor the book and do it justice in the TV series.” The core story of their friendship remained intact.
The novel is linear in its passage across the decades. It was time to mix the time periods up in the TV series. “I wanted to see all of it at the same time. I don’t want to have to wait to get to the eighties.” This sparked Maggie’s decision to tell the story as a non-linear narrative.
She had to frame the story within each time period. “I had to thematically link the time periods in terms of what Kate and Tully went through when they were fourteen compared to what they were going through when they were forty-three.” This was a major departure from the book. The key life experiences were covered – Kate’s first period, first love, marriage, and middle age.
When Kate was in her forties, she had to deal with divorce and starting over in her career. “This was ripe ground to tell stories.” Friedman’s interest in this allowed her to explore these storylines more in the TV show.
“There are many branches on the tree allowing the TV series to explore a variety of storylines that the book couldn’t.” There was a greater emphasis on Johnny in the television series, because it was clear that even after they divorce, they still cared about each other.
The finale was also different from the book. It is set at a funeral in 2005, two years after the main story ended. Kate’s father Bud Paul McGillion) died, not Johnny as hinted. Tully attends the funeral, but Kate asks her to leave creating a mystery of how another rift in their friendship occurred. This is in stark contrast to the penultimate episode in which Kate and Tully were at a New Year’s Eve party and pledged to go into business together. Friends forever. It is a teaser for season 2.
Friendship is about the arc of a person’s life and the choices they make along the way. “The things that happen to you or you choose shape you as a person. It’s never too late to reinvent yourself.” declared Maggie.
Male Characters
A story about two female friends will inherently reduce the screen time of the male characters such as Johnny Ryan and Kate’s brother Sean Malarkey (Jason McKinnon). This allowed Friedman to ensure that their screen time was used efficiently to create fully realized male characters with defined character arcs. A story about two female friends cannot get away with two-dimensional male characters. Ultimately Firefly Lane is a story about people, so gender screen time isn’t the overarching consideration since many life experiences shared by Kate and Tully can be experienced by male friends.
Johnny Ryan (Ben Lawson) Photo Courtesy of Netflix
Sean eventually comes to terms with his homosexuality after a wife and child, and Johnny becomes less cynical and rediscovers his love of journalism. There is a feeling of positivity at the end of the series. Johnny was a war correspondent and initially takes on a fill in role as the producer of The Girlfriend Hour, Tully’s talk show before he takes on another serious journalistic role in Iraq at the end of the story.
Maggie Friedman is a big proponent of TV writers mining their life experiences to infuse into a story. Writers need to find a way to relate to the characters and say, “This thing that happened to the characters is a lot like something that happened to me. I can use that feeling to write that character.” It’s a significant way writers can bring that authenticity to the page.
